Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
As a small business owner and union member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades for 30 years, I know how important it is that every worker has a union.
Giving workers a voice in their workplace, negotiating for good, family supporting wages and benefits and worker safety are crucial to a family's ability to thrive.
Democrats will deliver on this important legislation today, but it is interesting Republicans lately have been trying to falsely rebrand themselves as the party of working people while opposing the strongest bill in Congress to give power to workers. The same Republicans who fought tooth and nail to reduce stimulus checks and unemployment insurance, championed union busting and prevented an increase in the minimum wage from being included in COVID relief.
They claim they are the party of the working people. Their idea of helping working people is voting for a $2 trillion tax cut for corporate donors and billionaire friends but refusing to vote for a $1.9 trillion investment in the American people.
Their tax breaks for the top 1 percent, by the way, even included a provision that might make it easier to send jobs overseas. Yes. That is fighting for the average worker--in China.
Please, if you are the party of working people, then I am a stunt double, doppelganger for Brad Pitt. I hope you enjoyed me in ``Fight Club.''
Today, on this side of the aisle we proudly stand up to protect the right to organize for every worker.
We will stand up for better worker protections in a pandemic.
We will stand up for negotiating for better pay and benefits to support your family.
We will stand up against antiworker so-called right-to-work laws that inevitably mean right to work for less.
We will stand up for gig workers, for nurses, for grocery workers, for meatpackers, for fast-food workers, for public service workers, and, yes, for Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama.
That is what the party of working people would do, and that is why we are going to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act this week.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record two pieces of correspondence from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Transport Workers Union of America.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Washington, DC, March 5, 2021.
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the 1.4 million members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, I am writing to state our strong support for H.R. 842, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act). I urge you to support this critical legislation and to oppose any weakening amendments and any motion to recommit when H.R. 842 comes to the House floor this week. The Teamsters Union believes that this legislation is critically important to rebuilding the middle class and to begin reversing decades of income inequality and the erosion of worker rights.
Today, the economy is not working for working people and their families. Wages have stagnated for workers across the economy, while income has skyrocketed for CEO's and the wealthiest one percent. In large measure, this inequality is the result of a loss of bargaining power and the erosion of workers' ability to exercise their rights on the job.
Today, when workers make the decision to stand together and bargain with their employer for improved working conditions, the deck is stacked against them from day one. Under current law, unscrupulous employers, armed with limitless funds, routinely violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and block workers' ability to exercise their right to bargain for better wages and better working conditions with impunity. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act is an important step forward for workers' rights, rebuilding the middle class, and addressing inequality. It would restore and strengthen worker protections which have been eroded over the years.
The Protecting the Right to Organize Act addresses several major weaknesses in current law. The legislation enacts meaningful, enforceable penalties on employers who break the law and gives workers a private right of action if they've been terminated for union activity. The bill would make elections fairer by prohibiting employers from using coercive activities like ``captive audience'' meetings and by preventing employers from hiring permanent replacements of workers who exercise their right to strike. It would establish a process for mediation and arbitration to stop stalling tactics at the bargaining table and help parties achieve a first contract. Importantly, the bill also addresses rampant intentional misclassification and ensures that misclassified workers are not deprived of their right to form a union under the NLRA.
Research shows that workers want unions. However, there is a huge gap between the share of workers with union representation and the share of workers that would like to have a union and a voice on the job. The PRO Act would take a major step forward in closing that gap, addressing income inequality, and ultimately growing a strong middle class.
I urge you to demonstrate to the American people that workers and their rights are a priority for this Congress. I hope I can tell our members that you stood with them and other workers in their efforts to achieve meaningful worker rights and protections and better wages and working conditions. The Teamsters Union urges you to vote yes on H.R. 842 and to oppose all efforts to weaken this bill by amendment.
Sincerely,
James P. Hoffa, General President.
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Transport Workers of America, AFL-CIO,
Washington, DC, March 8, 2021.
Dear Representative: On behalf of more than 150,000 members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), I am writing to urge you to support the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act when it comes to the floor this week. This bill directly addresses the needs of the middle-class in the 21st century and will help ensure that our next generation economy is one that puts working families first.
Our labor laws are designed to provide access to the time- tested process of collective bargaining. Under the National Labor Relations Act, certain workers, through their elected representatives, negotiate with their employer over the terms of their labor. How often will they work? How much will they be paid? What benefits will they receive beyond their salary? Through collective bargaining, these questions are answered in a unique way for each work group and at each company. This is an incredibly flexible process that has allowed TWU to successfully negotiate contracts for everyone from airline mechanics to bikeshare workers.
Bikeshare workers at Motivate (a company owned by Lyft) are often considered part of the ``gig economy''. They are also proud TWU members with a national contract. For many of these union members, the majority of their interaction with their employer is through an app--very similar to the way rideshare drivers interact with their employers. These workers move around a large geographic area collecting and repositioning bikes in the same way a rideshare driver would pick up and move passengers. Unlike rideshare drivers, however, bikeshare workers' rights are not seen as incompatible with their company's business model.
These workers and many others are proof that collective bargaining is powerful enough to live on into our future. None of the more than 200 current contracts that TWU has negotiated and implemented is identical--in fact many of them would work at no other company or among any other work group. While the process mandated under our labor laws may be the same, the outcomes vary wildly, allowing for growth and change as circumstances shift and technologies evolve. All workers deserve access to that process in order to better their standard of living.
Unfortunately, the proportion of unionized workers in the U.S. is near a 90-year low because of structural hurdles which make joining a new union very difficult.
The PRO Act would directly address these issues and give workers across the entire economy equal access to the collective bargaining process. In order ensure workers' rights keep pace with the new economy, the Transport Workers Union strongly urges you to vote yes on the PRO Act and to oppose any weakening amendments. Sincerely, John Samuelsen, International President.
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Mr. POCAN. Madam Speaker, it is interesting today listening to the debate. I didn't hear anything about workers, trying to actually help workers get a better wage or better benefits or better safety in their workplace from people on the other side of the aisle.
But what I have heard over and over and over again are Planned Parenthood, the Clinton Foundation, and Progressive Democrats of America which, by the way, Madam Speaker, don't appear anywhere inside this bill today.
I guess if you can't talk about what you are going to do on behalf of workers, you are going to talk about Planned Parenthood, Clinton Foundation, and Progressive Democrats of America, which, by the way, I would argue the free time they have given them this afternoon on national TV is probably more than the donations that actually came from union organizations.
The bottom line is the other party here across the aisle has over and over said they want to rebrand themselves as the workers' party, and yet they haven't done a thing today to prove they care about workers. They have certainly proven for the bosses and corporations that they are best buddies, BFFs forever, but on behalf of workers it is this side of the aisle that is doing all the heavy lifting.
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